


Thoughts on the Undead

by Potkanka



Series: Tombvember 2020 [27]
Category: Tomb Raider (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:02:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27743434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potkanka/pseuds/Potkanka
Summary: Lara and Kurtis prepare for a raid.
Series: Tombvember 2020 [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995154





	Thoughts on the Undead

“So the knights shouldn’t attack you?” Lara asked, lacing up her boot.

“Nope,” Kurtis shrugged and leaned back on the chair, hands behind his head. “Why should they? They’re Lux Veritatis like me. Maybe even my ancestors but...” he grimaced. “I try not to think about it, it’s pretty weird.”

“Is that where you draw the line at weirdness?” Lara raised an eyebrow. “You must have seen a lot of strange things in your life.”

“So did you, right?” Kurtis asked and Lara inclined her head in agreement. “Yeah well imagine it was your dead great-grandma protecting your family secrets, shuffling around as a corpse.”

Lara tried to imagine that. She had childhood memories of one of her great-grandmothers, and her as a corpse… “I’m afraid she would be greatly displeased by the crumbling quality of her body and clothes, she was always rather neat.”

Kurtis gave her an unimpressed stare. “Is that what you focus on? Anyway, I asked about how _you_ would feel.”

“Probably quite surprised, if I didn’t know of it beforehand. But you do.”

“Yeah, I know they’re there,” Kurtis waved towards the southern window, in the direction they would later travel to reach the castle ruins. “But still… I rather not think about _who_ they used to be.”

“Do you think they recognize you on some level? Or they just know you belong to the Order?” Lara asked.

“I don’t know, why?” Kurtis rubbed his face with his hand, groaning.

“If we could trick them somehow, maybe they wouldn’t attack me either,” Lara mused. “I don’t usually mind a fight, but it can get rather bothersome when there’s not a way to kill them, only run away or knock them in some crevice.”

Kurtis shook his head. “I don’t know how exactly they recognize who’s who, but I doubt you could just put on some disguise to look like one of the actual members.” Then he mumbled under his breath: “Maybe they’d try to kill you  extra hard for making fun of them like that...”

“Could that be possible?”

“What?”

“Could they have such complicated thoughts?” Lara specified.

“I,” Kurtis put his palms away, as if warding off Lara’s questions, “don’t know. And don’t want to know. Just… I don’t care if great-grand uncle thrice removed is down there and will recognize me when he sees me, okay? I don’t want to know if the undead Lux Veritatis can still think and remember who they were and...” He frowned and hugged himself suddenly.

“Kurtis?” Lara watched him, now slightly worried.

He sat in silence for a while, then finally opened his mouth. “I don’t know… how exactly one becomes like this. I don’t know if you need to choose it, or if it depends on where you die or under which circumstances or...” he fell silent again.

Lara blinked, staring at him, and then let out a small: “Oh.”

“What?” Kurtis snapped defensively.

“You’re worried you might become one of them,” Lara said.

Kurtis’ eyes widened, but then he looked away and shrugged. “I mean, how can I know I won’t?  I know of many Lux Veritatis who just died and that was it but…”

“But that still doesn’t tell you how one _does_ become reanimated,” Lara paraphrased his earlier words.

“That’s why I’d rather not think about it,” Kurtis sighed. He then grimaced in a half-smile. “But if I have to… I sure hope they don’t have any consciousness anymore. They deserve their rest. What… what kind of existence would be something like this?” he asked, hugging himself tight again.

“Yes,” Lara agreed, ruminating on it. It did sound like a rather unbearable fate, prowling abandoned halls to protect family legacy. Soul-destroying in its tedium, Lara would say, but it probably wasn’t the best choice of words. She should rather not ask Kurtis what he thought about what happened to their souls, he was spooked enough by his possible fate as he was.

“So, you ready?” Kurtis said, suddenly all cheerful, jumping up off his chair.

What a very subtle change of topic. But yes, Lara was ready and the ruins were waiting for them. And also some skeletons, but… hopefully not waiting  _consciously_. 

“I’m ready,” Lara nodded and stood up too.


End file.
